Biography

Following from that he resettled in the United States and created another landmark Studio as the CEO and from that, moved on further into creative and commercial projects in the emerging Web3 sector.

Having had an affinity and desire for computers at the emergence of Home Computing, Ian built his own first computer as a kit project in the early 80’s. Following the path in education, Ian was a student in the very first year of the availability of an A-Level in computer studies. Following that path into Liverpool John Moore’s University (LMJU) obtained his graduate in Computer Science and became a fully qualified Process Control Engineer with a boutique, bespoke software development house. Ian worked on projects in many countries including Austria, Germany, France, Ireland, Canada, United States and India. The ability to be a travelling engineer and parachuted into large scale projects to carry out specialist tasks and get the job done, was core to this phase of his career. Programming, designing, analyzing and production were all key – with an emphasis on offline simulation system creation.

Ian moved into the exciting and emerging world of Video Games at the dawn of the 16-bit era. He initially worked in Licensing, project management and production. The Licensing skills enabled the many hit games made by the studio available on varying formats and in many countries around the world – notably in the USA and Japan. Ian worked with Microsoft, Sega and Nintendo producing games for all those particular manufacturers on many different game consoles.

Ian created the seminal Theatre of Death for the Amiga with the esteemed programmer Dave Anthony (who went on to head up the Call of Duty series at Treyarch). Ian was interviewed for the landmark publication “Edge” magazine’s very first issue for the advanced CD-ROM game Microcosm. He is pictured in the magazine alongside David Worral and Richard Browne. Ian was directly involved in the production of many #1 titles for the PlayStation including Wipeout, Destruction Derby, Lemmings, Mickey’s Wild Adventure, Toy Story and Discworld.

Ian was responsible for obtaining the license for Formula 1 from Fuji TV in 1995, which Sony went on to create several very successful iterations of the game for the PlayStation. Formula 1 (1996) was a huge hit in Europe and Japan and was considered the very best version of the motor sport ever produced at the time.

In collaboration with the designer Mike Ellis, they created the landmark 3D space shooter Colony Wars, which gained a cult following in the United States and is still regarded as the game which changed the face of the genre. Ian rose to the C-Level of the organization and worked in Japan, United States and the UK. A great deal of time was spent as a round-the-clock connector and orchestrator for many products and productions – involving Movies and the Studios as well as Music industry, combining all forms of media and entertainment with the core driver of video games.

Ian left Sony in 1999 and went on to be one of the founder members of Warthog games – working on Harry Potter, Looney Tunes and Bounty Hunter among many others. This was one of the first video game development studios to eventually become a Public Limited Company – Ian was the Commercial Director for the venture and successfully got the float away in what was a turbulent time in the industry. Having dealt extensively with the movie and television studios for many years, the main concentration of work became the West Coast of the United States of America. A relocation to that area was required to continue to pursue the success that was driving the company and the projects undertaken.

After Settling in the United States in 2003 and generating continued success for Warthog, Ian left the company at a time of transition and acquisition. He went on to become the CEO of 500ft Studios making a number of hit titles including Stacked with Daniel Negreanu (World Poker champion). Stacked was the first multiplayer Poker game on consoles and PC and was innovative in that players could match against each other on multiple platforms in the same game. PlayStation 2, X-Box, PSP and PC could all mix and match via online play – a landmark achievement at the time.

The company went on to have a number of successes and was notable for creating innovative Casino floor software from wireless handheld tablet systems through to fully implemented slot machine games (having created 24 of them – some of which are still in operation to this day).

Ian was drawn towards the emerging sectors of Virtual Reality and Blockchain/Crypto, as a result of curiosity and opportunity provided by an extensive network of connections in the industry. Ian continued to work with companies in an advisory capacity after the closure of 5000ft studios as well as working more extensively in the emerging technology which would become the basis of the Web3 revolution. Helping to establish new businesses and get them underway as well as joining other companies for specific contract aims. Over time the involvement with Virtual Reality became increasingly deeper as well as networks, Bluetooth systems, Virtual Reality (interactive and passive), Cryptocurrency, Blockchains and their expanding utility, NFTs and eSports. Working deeply with concepts and executions and providing advisory services and expertise, always with the enormous amount of Interactive Development and Production experience. A perfect collision of interest, excitement, enjoyment and the convergence of ALL the technologies that make up the next generation of the internet – Web 3.0

Ian continues to be involved with the Video Game world, all things Web3 and a number of other front-line technologies. Always passionate, always engaged and with an extensive global network and the possibilities that network, knowledge and understanding can bring.